For Miami Dolphin’s Owner Stephen Ross, this playoff berth must feel awfully familiar
By Scott Fisher
Since the Stephen Ross owned Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets this past Sunday, and ultimately clinched a playoff berth, I haven’t been able to shake the idea that this season feels awfully familiar.
Then it hit me – the reason this season feels familiar is because it is very familiar. I’d also imagine there’s at least one other person in the team building who feels the same way – Owner Stephen Ross.
Allow me to bury the lead here by taking you through the venn-diagram of some of the noteworthy similarities between the 2022 season and one other season, though you diehard fans likely already know which season I have in mind.
The first easy comparison is that both seasons featured a first-time, offensive-minded head coach. In fact, both of these offensive head coaches were believed to be offensive gurus at the time of their hiring (one definitely isn’t). As for the results, the 2022 offense, lead by their head coach/play-caller, improved from the 22nd ranked offense to the 11th best in just one year. The other team I’m referring to jumped from the 27th ranked overall offense to 17th in that same time period.
The second glaring similarity is that both of these coaches able to kickstart the development of their young veteran signal caller in that very first season. It’s fascinating to note that both were able to help their quarterback achieve their best performance of their career to that point – not an easy feat and yet something both of these head coaches were, in part, hired to do.
Third, both seasons would include the starting quarterback going down towards the end of the regular season in the heat of a contested wild-card race, replaced by their backup(s) to help get them across the finish line and into the dance. Seeing Skylar do this yesterday, and Teddy the week prior, absolutely gave me flashbacks.
Finally, both head coaches would make the playoffs in that first season, heading on the road to a cold weather opponent with concerns at the quarterback position for that incredibly important matchup.
Of course, I’m sure many of you have figured out that the comparison here is to the 2016 Miami Dolphins season under head coach Adam Gase.
That season, with Adam Gase leading the charge, Ryan Tannehill would see great improvement before ultimately tearing his ACL. Tannehill’s backup, Matt Moore, would take the team the rest of the way including the start in our playoff game on the road in Pittsburgh – we all know how that ended.
This year, with Mike McDaniel proving to be just what was needed for third-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the young quarterback would also go on to have his best season yet before a concussion would keep him out of the final two games and possibly longer.
The question on every fans mind now is whether that’s where the similarities will end.
- Will Tua make it back to lead his team on the road against division rival Buffalo? His health is paramount and you can’t rush a brain injury.
- Will the Miami Dolphins break their playoff win draught?
- WIll Matt Moore make a sudden reappearance at quarterback?
Ok, maybe not that last one.
In just a few days all will be known. Until then, keep those fins up!